In the trades, it is often desirable to quickly, easily, and sightlessly, have access to marking pens. Whether laying tile, cutting wood, marking locations and the like, often times it is required to have access to some sort of marking implement. Some trades workers carry a pencil behind their ear. Others carry a marking pen, such as a Sharpie®, with its cap, in their shirt pocket or back pants pocket. Some carry a marker in their tool belt. All of these and other known solutions have drawbacks.
A long felt issue in this field is that in using such markers, the removal of the cap and replacement of the cap requires two hands (or one hand and a mouth). This means that the job of measuring and marking is interrupted by the very process of using the marker. Or, the worker will insert the marker into his mouth. Pencil does not always mark well.
The present disclosure provides a holster, attachable to a variety of implements, such as a tool belt, or a regular belt, or anything regularly used by a tradesman in near proximity to the work, capable of accepting a variety of commonly used markers, keeping the markers when inserted from drying out, and allowing one-handed, sightless insertion and withdrawal to provide the tradesman with easy, one-handed use of the marker on repeated occasions.
There is a need for such a device as there have been many prior attempts to address many of the problems just discussed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,549, titled POCKET CONTAINER AND STAND FOR WRITING IMPLEMENTS, disclosed is, “a caddy of generally modular form for writing implements is designed with a plurality of sockets to receive and support writing implements in upright position, with the writing ends secured in closed position with the receiving socket. In one embodiment, the caddy accommodates a plurality of conventional marking pens together with their individual caps, which caps remain captive when the pens are removed.”
In another example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,767 titled MARKER PEN HOLDER, disclosed is, “a marker pen supporting and holding device includes a cavity for capturing a marker pen cap therein consisting of principal and auxiliary cavity portions. The principal cavity portion is provided for receiving a protective cap body and the auxiliary cavity portion is provided for guiding and captivating a marker cap pocket attachment clip. A securing pin extends through aligned device body apertures to traverse a gap between the cap body and the pocket attachment clip, thereby removably securing the cap within the device to enable one-handed marker pen handling.”
In another example, in U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2006/0076377 A1, titled MARKER HOLSTER, disclosed is, “a marker holster includes an elongate tubular housing and a fastening member attached to the housing for removably securing the housing to an article. The housing has an upper end defining a marker opening and an opposed end. A generally open interior space extends between the marker opening and the opposed end for receiving a capped or uncapped marker. An inner surface of the housing defines an elongate slot and a locking chamber in communication with the elongate slot for selectively retaining the marker's cap in the housing, and thereby holding the attached marker. The marker may be removed from the retained marker cap and the holster by pulling the marker upwardly. A surrogate cap is nested in the housing proximate the opposed end for selectively receiving the uncapped marker's writing tip, and thereby clutching the marker. The marker may be removed from the holster by pulling the marker upwardly.”
Finally, in another example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,764,331, titled MARKER WITH REVERSE CLIP CAP, disclosed is, “a marker has a cap with a reverse clip, which opens toward the closed end of the cap, that is, in the same direction as the force applied to remove the cap, thereby allowing the cap to be removed with one hand without dislodging the reverse clip from its attachment. To facilitate single-handed removal and replacement of the marker, the cap has a semi-tubular cap extension, terminating in a flange from which the reverse clip extends. The cap extension acts as a guide for replacing the marker in the cap with one hand, while the flange provides a flat surface against which downward thumb pressure can be applied to separate the cap from the marker as the latter is pulled up with the other fingers of the same hand.”
It is clear from the foregoing references that there remains a need in the industry for a holster for markers that allows for easy, sightless, one-handed removal and replacement to deploy and use the marker. These prior attempts each fall short for a variety of reasons.
The present disclosure teaches embodiments of a marker holster that overcome all of the prior shortcomings in an inexpensive, easy-to-use, sightless, marker holster, allowing for true one-handed operation.
Embodiments taught herein include: a universal holster that replaces a marker's own cap; a side opening with a flared top opening with wings that doubles (i) as a funneled guide so that the marker does not have to be exactly positioned for reinsertion, and (ii) as a surface upon which any number of fingers or a thumb of a hand can rest to provide opposite pressure for upward pulling; a clip to attach to a variety of surfaces; and an inner smaller marker tip compartment to seal the tip and prevent drying.
This has several advantages over the prior art. Firstly, embodiments of the device taught herein can accommodate almost any brand of marker and is brand blind. Second, embodiments of this design provide for a truly sightless, one-handed operation where the marker can ‘miss’ the opening slightly and still be guided into place. Third, embodiments of this device teach there is no need for the original marker cap so that it is not an issue if it is lost or dropped. Fourth, embodiments herein provide for a universal clip such that the marker can be deployed in almost any circumstance.
Additionally, in one embodiment, an integrated shield is provided that acts to prevent the marker from accidentally contacting and marking clothing to which the device is attached.
Additionally, in one embodiment, the clip can be removable and replaceable allowing various configurations of the clip to be utilized, each designed for various specific applications, for example and not by way of limitation, wide industrial belts, pockets, equipment, clothing, and the like.
None of the disclosed prior art references or other known prior art, alone or in combination, teach the salient and proprietary features of the present disclosure as just described.